Twisted [Lady Lesso x OC] {S L O W B U R N}

Chapter 15

From the corner of my eye, I could see Renn staring at me with her mouth slightly open. My head was pounding and I wanted nothing more than to run straight to my room and wrap myself in a blanket. I promised myself I would do that if the teacher asked me yet another pointless question.

"In order to control your emotions, you need to follow a few simple steps," Lady Lesso continued. "Stop. Take a deep breath. Observe. And finally, proceed," she glanced at me and for the first time since morning, I felt the pain go away. I sighed in relief and Fenrir leaned on my leg even harder. I couldn't tell what'd happened but it was like someone had given me step-by-step instructions on how to breathe again.

"First, you need to stop. Don't react. Let yourself freeze for a second."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous? What if whoever we're fighting with uses that against us?" Celia asked and the teacher shot her a scolding look. "What? That's a good question-"

"That's-" she went silent and breathed in deeply. "You're right, that's a good question."

Something about the way her voice sounded made me look at her immediately. The more I observed her, the more I realized that while Lady Lesso appeared to be her regular, cold-hearted self, on closer examination, something around the edges of her expression appeared fraught with tension and exhaustion. Her eyes lacked their typical violet light and when she spoke, she didn't seem as dedicated to teaching us as she used to be. I wondered what'd happened and instantly hated myself for being so harsh towards her earlier.

I suspected she's been like that for a long while but I never noticed because I simply wasn't paying attention. I was too busy trying to impress her.

"Even if you let your mind freeze, you never want to lose your focus. It's a skill you'll learn over time," she finally explained. "Once you are calm enough, you can proceed. Always be mindful. What will happen next? What are your goals? What decision should you make? Would the decision you make be the right one? Ask yourself those questions in your mind. You'll never have enough time to answer any of them during a battle but focusing on something might help you."

The rest of her class passed in no time. I was convinced she struggled to survive until the end of it just as much as I did. She dismissed all of us and I started getting my stuff from the desk. Sasha shot me a few hateful stares but quit when Fenrir growled at her. He was the only thing keeping her away from me and I knew I was fucked whenever he wasn't around to protect me from her sick games.

The headache made itself known the second Lady Lesso spoke again.

"Reader, stay behind."

"Yes, professor."

Renn put her hand on my arm and gave it a sympathetic squeeze. I smiled at her faintly and took a deep breath. Both she and Celia walked out of the classroom and I was left alone with the teacher.

"I hope you did not forget you are supposed to be here after lunch," she stated without looking at me to which I said I remembered.

"We will be taking a walk today."

"A what?" I didn't manage to bite my tongue in time. That's a first.

"A walk. Do you need it to be spelled out for you?" The professor groaned.

I ignored her remark. "Where are we going?"

"To the forest."

"Why?" I didn't understand why she would want to take me there in the first place. Being stuck with her in the office was torture enough and now she wanted to go run around the forest? I bet she's never been there and I smiled at the thought of her getting lost there.